East Side Residents Didn’t Take Kindly to Mayor Pope’s Glad-Handing
COVID, uh...coffee with the mayor did not go as planned.
Man, I like the word "feckless." It means ineffective or weak. Feckless is exactly how Mayor Pope looked when pressed for answers by Lubbock's east side residents.
The operative statement/question was, in effect: "you're a mayor of a segregated city, what are you going to do about that?" The mayor denied that Lubbock was segregated, and called the accusation a difference of opinion. Residents in attendance did not appear to care for that answer (you can see all of this in the embedded video below).
It appears the mayor doesn't have answers to tough questions. Rather than cut to the core of the question, the mayor's tactic was to try to deflect the question as a whole. Most people who have lived in Lubbock know how segregated East Lubbock is from the rest of the town. If the mayor doesn't agree with this, then maybe he needs to take a drive through the neighborhood.
There was literally an ordinance at one point that African-Americans could only live in that area (if you'd like a more professional take on all of this, I recommend this blog from Texas Housers). Not only has that area of town lacked any serious development, so much of it is also zoned as industrial, meaning some potential environmental problems for residents.
I don't blame these residents for being upset with the mayor, and I think they need to take a look at Councilperson Shiela Patterson-Harris as well. It's one thing to get be neglected, but this denial is just way too much.
The east side needs more investment and infrastructure. Right now, they can't even get answers.